


We Wanna Be Outlaws

by heffermonkey



Series: South West Turret Tales [4]
Category: Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: Comedy, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-14
Updated: 2013-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-25 13:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heffermonkey/pseuds/heffermonkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gary and Neville want to be in the gang, but will Robin give them a chance?</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Wanna Be Outlaws

Well it was a fine mess they'd gotten themselves into. Minding their own business one moment and captured unceremoniously by Robin and his men in another. After many protestations that they were in fact fans of the outlaws, that they usually minded their own business when they attacked the castle and generally fawned over how amazing Robin and his men were. Gary gave a gulp and decided to give it his best shot.

"We want to join you!" he exclaimed. 

Neville nodded his head enthusiastically. It was true, they'd rather be on Robin's side than the Sheriffs. The Sheriff scared them and well, he just wasn't a nice person and Gary and Neville had come to the conclusion that working for not very nice people wasn't any fun. Gary was a little put out when the outlaws chuckled. Even Robin laughed and looked disbelieving.

"But we do!" Gary implored to the outlaw leader. "We don't like Vaizey, Gisborne is a bully and well, if it weren't for the fact that we need the money, we'd be long gone by now. Only, guarding is the only thing we're good at."

"And what would I want with a couple of guards?" Robin asked him. 

Gary couldn't argue with that one and tried to think of another argument. "We can fight, we're trained."

"Ain't you the two from the south west turret?" Allan asked, looking at them closely. He recognised them, remembered that they pretty much did zilch up that tower. With a chuckle he shook his head at Robin, "Only thing those two are good at is lazing about doing nothing."

Neville gave him an angry stare. "We can fight, only, well we choose not too."

Robin gave another laugh, folding his arms and giving a shake of his head. "You choose not too?"

"Well, if we did, it would make your getting about the castle more difficult wouldn't it?" Gary told him in explanation. "We're up on the South West Turret, we don't get to see much of the action but we can defend from up there. Ever wonder why you aren't rained down by arrows when you're running about the south battlements?"

Robin gave this some thought. The man had a point. But again he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't trust you."

"Why?" Neville moaned. 

"Your Sheriff's men, I couldn't fully trust you." Robin explained.

"You trust him," Gary said with a nod towards Allan. "Took him back into your gang. You trust a traitor but you wouldn't give us a chance?"

"Oi," Allan said with a growl. "Watch it."

"He has a point," Much said with a shrug.

"Shut up Much," Allan told him and turned his back on the group put out.

"We're only asking for a chance." Gary said beseechingly to Robin. "You need insiders in this castle right? Well we can be those spies. The Sheriff and Gis barely know we're around most of the time anyway, they don't think us guards think, they just expect us to do their dirty work for them with closed ears. We don't even have to leave the castle to send you messages."

"How so?" Robin asked, starting to come round to the idea. The two men seemed genuine in their wanting to help the gang.

Neville and Gary gave each other a glance. They'd given this some thought.

"Well," started Neville. "As you know, we man the South West Turret. Well it's at a rather funny angle, but we can look down onto the courtyard."

"And the back of the castle, facing towards Clun. Well we can write notes, attach them to arrows and fire those arrows towards Clun, there's an old tree stump on the crossroad. We target that and send you the messages," added in Gary.

"We don't even have to leave the castle, thus no suspision can fall on us," Neville finished.

"You can't fire that far," Allan said, still put out.

"Oh please, it's easy. It isn't that far," replied Gary with a shrug. 

"It's a fair distance," Robin said impressed. "You can guaruntee to hit the stump?"

"Four out of five times," Gary said proudly. "Five out of five for Nev though."

Neville tried not to look too proud, but it was true.

"If your such good shots, why would you be put on guard duty in that turret," Much said with a shake of his head. "Gisborne wouldn't waste his men like that."

"You really think we'd let Guy know how good we are?" Gary said with a laugh.

"Why wouldn't you?" Robin asked, knowing Much was right. It didn't make sense.

"He'd make us fight! He'd put us in the North turrets, that's where all the action happens." Neville replied, "My days of fighting are done. I'm tired of killing people and so is Gary, so we keep it on the low that we're actually fairly good with the bow and we got given South West Turret duty."

"What do you mean, days of fighting, tired of killing people?" Robin questioned looking at both men.

"You're not the only two to come home to Nottingham after being in the crusades." Neville replied solemnly. "Only we got hurt real bad in one battle. Didn't think we were gonna make it, but the King was moving the troops forward. Those of us who had survived but couldn't fight, we got sent home with the Kings blessing."

"Can't fight if you're laying up in a stretcher," Gary shrugged. "And the King waits for no man."

"And soyou ended up working for one of his enemies." Much snorted at the idea of it.

"How else we supposed to survive?" Gary said angrily. "Not all of us who followed the battle to the Holy Land came from nobles homes and money. We're poor men, there was no money working in the villages. Gisbone took us on because we were soldiers in the crusades. We just keep our heads down and try to get along best we can. We know Vaizey is a bad guy, but we eat, have a roof over our heads." 

"Meanwhile the people of Nottingham, the villages, go hungry because the Sheriff takes their money. Not everyone is lucky enough to land a job at the castle," Robin argued, though he understood their plight, but he had given up his lands and nobility to help the people.

"We live in a small two roomed house in Pitt street. We survive on one wage and send the other to families who need it. We eat with the rest of the guards, two scanty meals a day, the rest of the time we get by with a few pennies to feed us every week." Neville argued back, "We do what we can. Not everyone is like you Hood, we are simple men, we do what little we can. We're offering our help, take it or leave it."

The gang had fell silent and Robin felt guilty for what he had said. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He told them. Pausing he gave some thought to their suggestion. "All right, we'll give it a try. On a trial basis mind. Usually at least one of us comes to Nottingham every day to check things out, we'll start making a habit of coming in on the Clun road. If you have anything to tell us, we'll test your idea out. An arrow on the stump, message attached."

Gary and Neville couldn't believe their luck. Robin had Much and Allan untie them both. Shaking their hands he hoped he'd made the right choice.

"This mean we're part of your gang?" Neville asked excitedly.

"Trial run, remember," Robin reminded him. "We'll see how it goes. Any funny business and I'll personally make sure neither of you ever leave that turret."

Gary and Neville nodded their heads, but they still beamed. True to their word they started sending messages via the new system. Usually every day they sent messages down to the gang, unheeded, undiscovered by Guy or the Sheriff. A few weeks later Neville climbed onto the turret for the start of a shift to find Gary studying an arrow wedged firmly into a nook of the turret walls.

"Where'd that come from?" he asked as Gary peered out from the turret towards the crossroad.

"It's from Robin," he said turning with a grin. 

Neville noticed something small attached to the arrow and carefully removed it. Carefully he unwrapped the small package to find two tags, Robin's personal seal of approval. Grinning Neville held the tags up by their leather lacings.

They were in the gang.


End file.
